1′ KICK-OFF! Levante get us started, attacking left-to-right.
Don’t go anywhere because the teams are out and kick-off is coming up.
Messi is in the XI for his fourth straight start now after a foot injury that kept him out at the beginning of the season. And what a return it’s been – four goals and three assists in his last three games, with Barcelona scoring a minimum of three goals in each match. If that’s not enough for a post-Halloween scare, he’s also got 13 assists against Levante, more than against any other LaLiga opponent.
Levante boss Paco Lopez names an unchanged side from the group that beat Real Sociedad, while Ernesto Valverde makes three changes from the 5-1 winners against Real Valladolid – Arthur comes in for Busquets, Roberto for Alba, with Semedo shunted over to left-back, while Griezmann replaces Fati. Ousmane Dembele and Carles Alena are the notable absentees though – both fit but not selected in the matchday squad.
SUBS: Neto, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Jean-Clair Todibo, Jordi Alba, Carles Perez, Ansu Fati.
BARCELONA XI (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Nelson Semedo; Arturo Vidal, Frenkie de Jong, Arthur; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann.
SUBS: Hernani, Nikola Vukcevic, Ruben Rochina, Roger Marti, Daniel Cardenas, Coke, Erick Cabaco.
LEVANTE XI (4-3-1-2): Aitor Fernandez; Jorge Miramon, Sergio Postigo, Ruben Vezo, Carlos Clerc; Gonzalo Melero, Nemanja Radoja, Jose Campana; Enis Bardhi; Jose Luis Morales, Borja Mayoral.
Just two victories in 26 games against Barcelona for Levante – both did come at home though, and they scored five goals in each. They won 5-1 in October 1994, then came out on top in a thrilling 5-4 contest in the penultimate game of 2017-18 – the game that stopped Barcelona going the entire season unbeaten!
No surprise that Barcelona’s form has improved since Lionel Messi returned from injury and they’ve shot to the top of the table with five straight wins. There’s just a point in it though and a slip-up today could see any one of five teams leapfrog them. As for Levante, they’ve won two of their last six, but they’re steadily midtable with a chance to move as high as eighth with a win.
Hello and welcome to matchday 12 in LaLiga! We have Levante up against league leaders and defending champions Barcelona.
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